Author: News Room
Our goal here at Credible Operations, Inc., NMLS Number 1681276, referred to as “Credible” below, is to give you the tools and confidence you need to improve your finances. Although we do promote products from our partner lenders who compensate us for our services, all opinions are our own. Borrowers with good credit seeking personal loans during the past seven days prequalified for rates that were higher for 3- and 5-year loans compared to the previous seven days. For borrowers with credit scores of 720 or higher who used the Credible marketplace to select a lender between March 13 and…
U.S. payment giants Visa and Mastercard are slamming the brakes on plans to forge new partnerships with crypto firms after a string of high-profile collapses shook faith in the industry, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The crypto industry saw a stunning reversal of fortunes in 2022 as bankruptcies of industry majors FTX and BlockFi rattled investors and increased regulatory scrutiny on the sector.Both Visa and Mastercard have decided to push back the launch of certain products and services related to crypto until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve, said the people, who asked not to be named…
As borrowers await a court decision on the fate of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness, a new survey said that most Americans support the plan. In total, 62% said they support student loan forgiveness and 18% said they opposed the plan, according to a recent Newsweek survey. Along political lines, 80% of Americans who voted for Biden in the 2020 presidential elections supported the plan, while 50% of Americans who voted for Trump favored the plan.The plan would cancel up to $10,000 in federal loans per borrower and up to $20,000 per borrower for those who used Pell Grants in…
Following a highly volatile housing market in 2022, some experts have said they believe home prices could fall through 2023 before seeing sustained growth in the following years. Home prices are expected to decline by 1.6% through this year, according to a panel of economists and housing experts polled for the Zillow Home Price Expectation (ZHPE) survey. “The majority of experts are now predicting an outright decline in U.S. home prices in 2023,” Pulsenomics founder Terry Loebs said in a statement. However, the panel also projected that home prices could bump back up at an average rate of 3.5% per year…
The storied mansion where former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy stayed following the assassination in 1963 of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, is listed for $26.5 million. She bought the 18th-century residence in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., known as the Baker House, to be her personal home, but decided to relocate a year later as the four-bedroom, four bathroom home attracted too much attention from the public and especially the paparazzi. The Georgetown home, now combined with two other homes, spans 16,300 square feet with 13 bedrooms. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Federal-style mansion…
The recent bank crisis stemmed from the loss of confidence in the banking system following the sudden collapse and seizure of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB VB ) by the FDIC on March 10. While analysis shows U.S. banks to be solvent overall, the concern about banks has spread globally. The challenge of analyzing bank safety is that a severe loss of confidence can actually cause an otherwise functioning financial institution to come under duress. This analysis uses a systematic methodology to monitor the strains on the banking system weekly via the U.S. Banking System Stress Monitor. Aside from the market…
Estate tax planning experts and many affluent taxpayers are aware of the multiple advantages of what are known in the technical jargon as “Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts” (IDGTs), which are irrevocable trusts that are intentionally drafted to trigger grantor status. This means that all income and deductions of the trust for federal income tax purposes are considered to be income and deductions of the grantor. This type of trust is also known as “disregarded.” Grantor trust status can result from any one of a number of provisions within the trust, including allowing the grantor to replace trust assets with assets…
By Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Next Avenue Social Security’s Earnings Test tops my list for our government’s most senseless and personally financially destructive policy. The Earnings Test is a massive tax that isn’t. It’s a tax that’s levied and then secretly returned making no money on balance for the government (as measured on an actuarial present value basis). Its sole purpose is to con Social Security beneficiaries below age 67 into thinking that earning money beyond a di minimis amount will come at a huge loss in current net income as well as lifetime benefits. Here’s how Social Security describes the…
I’ve heard no less than two anguished stories from two people I know in the past week who are steaming over not getting tax refunds. Ensuring that your federal tax return gets to the IRS and you receive a refund — if you’re owed one — is a matter of following a simple process. Here are five easy steps the IRS recommends: * Get Your Docs in One Place. Taxpayers should gather all documents, such as Forms W-2 and 1099, and any documents to support tax deductions or credits like education credits or mortgage interest payments. * File electronically. You…
How much money is Taylor Swift making on her “Eras” tour? Will her latest haul make her a billionaire? Experts told me in December that her 52-date concert tour could gross $620 million — of which she could keep about $500 million. This week those experts stuck with their estimates — but suggested that she could net even more. Since that $500 million estimate assumes an average ticket price of $215, her take could be as much as $1.5 billion if the average ticket price is $700 as one expert told me. If you add in possible international dates, her…
